Private Practice Success Newsletter
April 2007, by Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC (Master Certified Coach)
www.privatepracticesuccess.com
Leadership
Two weeks ago I presented a workshop at the Psychotherapy Networker Conference on “The Future of Private Practice.” There were about 200 mental health therapists in the room, and many voiced concerns about whether or not they had the necessary business skills to insure a profitable future for themselves. I agreed that business skills are important, but then I went further to explain my current outlook: It’s time to rethink the way we approach the business of therapy.
Here’s why: As a profession evolves over time, it requires a different approach for each developmental stage. Business ecosystems develop in four distinct stages: birth, expansion, leadership, and self-renewal (or death). The birth of a psychotherapy practice goes back about 100 years, and we have been in expansion mode since then. Today, I believe we are poised at the leadership stage. We need to captain our own practices, become more active about how we bring our services to others, and stay in charge of our professional and financial future.
“The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.” Faye Wattleton
What does “taking leadership” look like for a therapist or healing professional in private practice? I think a profitable private practice of the next decade will rely less on a medical model. We can highlight our professional principles and ethics, and utilize our skills for the work we have always done: helping clients solve problems, relate well to others, reduce suffering, develop insight, make behavioral change, and become self-aware. But we can reshape the look and operation of our practices, to appeal to a wider range of clients, and bring in consumer-oriented methods. Here are strategies for taking leadership of your own practice: 1. Cut your dependencies: We all counsel clients to stop being co-dependent, because it eventually leads to feeling victimized. If you are overly dependent (on an insurance company, a referral source, or even a clinical method) you are vulnerable for the future. Instead, take leadership by finding ways to become self-sufficient and more diverse. 2. Find new business models: In future newsletters, I will outline in detail some new business models that future-forward healers are already using, to stay financially viable despite the market downturns. For now, let yourself observe how other successful small businesses operate: what can you adapt or adopt to use in your own practice, to make it more up to date? 3. Interact regularly with the public: Potential clients are everywhere, but if you are isolated from the public, they won’t know you exist. You also miss out in another way. The more you understand your market, the stronger your ties to that market will be. Get out of your office each week and be part of the larger community, to get ideas, make connections, and interrelate.
“If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time in leading yourself—your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct.” Dee Hock
4. Articulate your value: If we can’t explain the value of our services, we can’t charge full fee. The first step for anyone in business is to know why their product is important. Those of us in the field of personal growth must be able to talk about our work based on the results we see, in layman’s terms, and reach out to those in the public who need our help. 5. Implement feedback: Every time you network or market your practice, you are in effect doing your own market research. Its all feedback – what works and what doesn’t. Every time you see a client in your office, you have a chance for additional research, by asking for feedback. When clients are allowed to help shape their therapy, coaching, or healing sessions via feedback, they rate the session as more satisfactory. 6. Build market share: In the US, less than 50% of all adults, and only 30% of all children who need therapy seek out a therapist. Why? They misunderstand the process, or feel stigmatized. Its time we all find ways to build market share, to create a broader client base for our helping, healing services. In future newsletters, I will show you how. 7. Strategize with others: In the future economy, no therapist is an island. We need to collaborate, form alliances, and work together to fulfill these strategies and others. This is the time to create communities of professionals in private practice so that we can not only survive the next decade, but thrive.
Next Strong Start Teleclass begins Monday April 16, 2007 at 3:00 PM EST
This is our popular, motivational teleclass for therapists, coaches, and healing professionals at any stage of practice building who feel stalled or burnt out. Starting a private practice or renovating a stalled one can be daunting. It takes time and energy to turn a small practice that is just surviving into one that is profitable thriving. Going it alone can be tough, especially when you have a full and demanding life. It helps to have the right kind of support when you are building your practice. The right kind of support is a professional group of your peers who will celebrate with you when you succeed, commiserate (but not indulge you) when you have a tough time, help you stay consistently motivated, encourage you, and hold you accountable for your goals. Join our Strong Start Teleclass Program! We meet by "bridgeline" — an easy to access conference line, that you dial just like a long-distance phone number at the given time, to be connected to everyone on the call. The Strong Start Teleclass Program is a twelve-hour, four-month-long progressive practice-building program that follows the first several months outlined in Lynn's best-selling workbook text: 12 Months to Your Ideal Private Practice: A Workbook to help therapists and healing professionals take the right steps to build their ideal private practices. Using a combination of lecture, discussion, assessments, exercises, skill sets and lots of fieldwork, you will be guided through a curriculum-based program, based on the workbook. Each month the teleclass meets for a total of three hours by phone (one hour every week, three weeks per month, for a total of twelve hours) to complement the workbook objectives and assignments. The teleclass will help you to take the learning and preparation further than you might do on your own. It is led by Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC and Wendy Allen, Ph.D. who will help you get moving on the goals and visions you have for 2007. Cost is only 40 per hour ($475 for twelve 1-hour sessions.) To register, visit:
Strong Start
Lynn's Upcoming Presentations
June 1, 2007: Philadelphia, PA
"The Evolving Private Practice"
Hyatt at Penns Landing sponsored by the Marworth Treatment Center
Contact: David Reynolds: dwreynolds@geisinger.edu September 2007: Australia!
Workshops in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth.
"Success in Private Practice: How to love what you do and be highly profitable too!"
For information and dates, go to: http://kassanevents.com.au/training1.html
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Books by Lynn Grodzki, published by WW Norton. To order, click on each book.
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The Business and Practice of Coaching
By Lynn Grodzki and Wendy Allen (2005)
Reviewed by author Richard Leider as "Nothing less than a radical rethinking of the essentials of building a coaching practice. A must read for all coaches, master and novice alike."
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Building Your Ideal Private Practice
By Lynn Grodzki (2000)
The best-selling guide to what you need to do and who you need to be in order to have a highly profitable, personally satisfying private practice. Often called the "private practice bible" this book has become a resource for tens of thousands of your colleagues.
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The New Private Practice:Therapist-Coaches Share Stories, Strategies and Advice
Edited by Lynn Grodzki (2002)
A groundbreaking look at the profession of coaching through the eyes of 16 successful therapist-coaches who tell you how to become a coach, what to charge, and show you how they coach their clients.
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12 Months to Your Ideal Private Practice: A Workbook
By Lynn Grodzki (2003)
This planned, motivational workbook will help you build the practice you desire. The workbook incorporates fresh ideas, new exercises, further skill sets and much more to give you a direct experience of being carefully coached by Lynn, month-by-month, for a full year.
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More next time,
lynn@privatepracticesuccess.com
See the website for additional articles, information about individual coaching, and upcoming classes.
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